Episode 208
Chapter 67: The Witch Helluram’s Legacy (4)
A surge of lightning energy erupted from the clearing, enveloping the pale blade in a shimmering aura. The fiery red landscape instantly shifted to a cool blue hue, and the monster staggered backward.
The light was dazzling—almost blinding.
Suddenly, the radiant beam transformed into a massive spear, hurtling straight toward the monster’s nape. The ashes of thornbushes scattered in all directions, drawn into the fierce energy.
The monster’s eyes widened in shock as the spear neared its neck, but Jin felt an unsettling intuition.
“This won’t end with a single strike.”
This was the same blade that had swallowed five White Wolf warriors in one swift blow. Yet, somehow, it seemed incapable of killing this beast. Jin’s instincts had never been wrong before.
“Kyahaaak!”
Just before the spear could pierce its neck, the monster arched its back like a bow and lashed out with its front paw.
Its five claws gleamed sharply—not with aura or magic, but with a unique power inherent to the creature.
Crackle!
The spear clashed against the paw, sparks of lightning and blue flames flying. To Jin’s surprise, the desperate swipe twisted the spear’s trajectory, and he swung his sword again.
The deflected spear followed Sigmund’s path, striking the monster’s side once more. Again, the monster batted it away with its claws.
Though they hadn’t collided directly, this alone was enough to gauge the monster’s immense strength.
“No wonder Lady Vanessa called this a ‘test’.”
It wasn’t just brute force. The monster had reacted precisely twice to the spear’s lightning-like strikes—an astonishing feat.
Yet, the monster clearly feared the spear. It instinctively screamed, anticipating the pain that would follow if the spear touched its body.
Crack! Clang! Crack!
After fending off the spear five times, the monster finally left an opening on its hind leg on the sixth attempt. Jin immediately guided the spear there and lunged, aiming for the monster’s front as well.
The lightning energy radiating from Sigmund’s blade pulled the monster in. Unable to dodge the spear striking its hind leg, the beast barely managed to deflect the blade thrust aimed at its front.
“Kyak!”
The monster’s claw scraped the center of the blade. Jin maintained his balance, parried, and struck again. Meanwhile, the spear piercing the hind leg emitted a burst of lightning.
A pained howl echoed—a grating, unbearable sound like dozens of newborns wailing simultaneously. At that moment, Jin unleashed a bolt of lightning at the monster’s face.
The lightning and the spear struck simultaneously. Without a protective shield, even a nine-star warrior wouldn’t survive such a blow unscathed.
The lightning hit the monster’s face squarely, while the spear tore through and shredded its hind leg.
“Kyaaak! Kaaak!”
The agonized screams were almost unbearable to hear. Then, to Jin’s astonishment, something incredible happened.
“Regeneration…?”
The monster’s wounds began to heal.
Shattered bone fragments from its hind leg dissolved and seeped back into the injury, while the lightning-scorched face rapidly closed up.
It was well known that some high-level monsters possessed regenerative abilities, so this wasn’t entirely unexpected.
But…
“Too fast.”
That was the problem. The regeneration speed Jin knew of in high-level monsters was nowhere near this rapid. This feline beast was literally healing its wounds instantly.
There was no time to stand frozen in surprise. After sustaining the strain of wielding the Three Swords of the Divine Warrior for so long, Jin’s aura was running low.
He hadn’t accounted for such a regeneration ability. His plan was to deal a fatal blow first, then adjust his pace accordingly.
Who could have predicted this monster had such rapid regeneration? The previous Black Knights who first faced it had been just as stunned.
“Kiiiak…!”
The monster’s blazing eyes locked onto Jin. Filled with murderous intent, it gathered magic once more.
This time, it wasn’t a demonic eye. The magic condensed into a beam of light, shooting straight at Jin.
He quickly dodged using his footwork, but when he saw the scorched earth where the beam had struck, he swallowed hard.
A black crater had formed, the surrounding ground shattered and torn up as if a fortress had collapsed there.
No matter how skilled Jin was, no one could survive a direct hit from that beam.
“As long as I don’t get hit, I’m fine.”
The beam wasn’t so fast it couldn’t be dodged or blocked.
But knowing the enemy always had such a weapon in reserve made the fight mentally exhausting.
Especially when facing a monster that regenerated at lightning speed, turning this into a war of attrition.
“It can’t regenerate forever. If I can damage the organ that fuels its regeneration, or injure it until it can no longer heal, I’ll win.”
Of course, it wasn’t that simple. If Jin slipped up even once, he’d suffer a fatal wound. Meanwhile, the monster could easily regenerate multiple fatal injuries if it could endure the pain.
He needed to fight efficiently. Instead of a destructive sword like the Lord of the Underworld’s Blade, he needed a weapon that allowed for more precise control.
Swish…
Jin sheathed Sigmund and drew Bradamante, releasing his spiritual energy as he did.
Sword Release.
The blade’s radiance vanished into the darkness. As particles of spiritual energy began to swirl around Jin’s body, the monster’s eyes narrowed.
“So you’ve seen spiritual energy before? I suppose you’ve lived a long time.”
“Kyaa…”
“This is going to be a tough fight. I hope the reward is worth it.”
Jin and the monster charged at each other simultaneously.
The monster’s eyes remained filled with magic. It fired beams when close, then gathered magic again, relentlessly pressuring Jin.
Its attacks with four legs, tail, and jaws never ceased. While the claws and jaws were dangerous, the tail was even more troublesome.
Hidden behind its body, the tail struck without warning, making its direction hard to predict. To Jin, it felt like massive iron maces were crashing down from the left, right, and above.
This was Jin’s first battle against such a colossal monster.
The agility and flexibility it displayed were unlike anything he’d experienced fighting dragons, leaving him dizzy. Yet the monster gave no time to adapt.
It was a formidable opponent.
Still, Jin’s skills were sufficient to handle it. As long as he maintained focus, he could dodge or parry every attack.
After about three minutes of back-and-forth, small openings began to appear.
Despite its regeneration, the monster often retreated hastily when struck in vulnerable spots. Jin sensed it had no hidden tricks left.
Whoosh…!
The spiritual energy from Jin’s blade slowly filled the space between them. Like the monster had used the forest before, Jin now used the energy to hide and reappear, gradually establishing a pattern in their fight.
The monster could no longer hide in the forest. The thornbushes nearby were still burning, and if it fled deeper, Jin would just set more of its precious food ablaze.
So despite its shocking regeneration, Jin held the upper hand.
“The key is whether my stamina runs out first, or its regeneration.”
He’d considered luring it out of the forest to finish it with his comrades, but the monster wasn’t careless enough to turn its back and flee.
This was destined to be a long battle.
The fight had lasted over 40 hours. The monster had never landed a fatal blow on Jin, and without its regeneration, Jin would have killed it dozens of times over.
The ground beneath them was now nothing but ash and smoldering embers. Every thornbush nearby had burned away.
Yet the flames sparked by the Fire Jade continued to spread, engulfing more than half the thornbush forest.
It was then that an unexpected variable began to shift the battle’s momentum.
“It’s getting anxious.”
Perhaps it feared the forest would be completely consumed by fire.
Unlike the clearly exhausted Jin, the monster still appeared as vigorous as when the fight began.
Yet, as time passed, its movements grew sloppy. It glanced toward the distant flames consuming the thornbushes mid-attack, often slashing at itself with Bradamante.
From the monster’s perspective, the only saving grace was its continued regeneration. Contrary to Jin’s expectations, even injuries to its heart or head healed as quickly as a scratch on its foot.
There was no single organ fueling its regeneration. Throughout the fight, Jin had stabbed or slashed every part of its body at least once.
Its regenerative power was extraordinary.
It defied the laws of nature—like the ancient dark magic described in history books.
Jin had never encountered one before, but even those called the “Kings of the Black Sea” didn’t possess such transcendent regenerative powers as this monster.
Even the Olta dragons like Quikantel, who could reverse time to achieve near-absolute regeneration, had their limits. To heal endlessly without any restrictions was simply not a power any mortal being could have.
A power that couldn’t be obtained just like that.
Which also meant it was possible—if one paid a sufficient price.
After forty hours of battle, Jin reached one conclusion about the monster.
“…So you’re not regenerating.”
[Karrrk…!]
“Witch Helluram—your former master—cursed you. It’s probably an immortality curse, which is why you keep endlessly healing. Otherwise, there’s no other explanation.”
[Kahaak!]
As Jin slowly approached, the monster scraped the ground threateningly.
“You’re a body that can’t die. Even if you want to, you can’t. That’s why, no matter how many times your limbs are severed, your heart bursts, or your head’s cut off, you keep fighting me. Am I wrong?”
Jin knew little about ancient dark magic, but he was certain: the monster was trapped under Helluram’s curse for some reason.
And likely abandoned.
“When this forest burns to ashes and disappears, where will you go?”
The monster didn’t answer, only growled lowly.
It seemed to say it had nowhere to go.
But that didn’t matter. The trees would grow back someday, and even if it couldn’t eat anything until then, the monster would still be alive.
Instead, in a world once filled with rocks, trees, and solitude, the monster would now have only solitude left to endure—for a long time, until the forest fully recovered.
“If you don’t attack me, I’ll try to calm the wildfire from now on.”
Jin sheathed his sword and said this. The monster slowly nodded in response.